Binging after anorexia carb face sensitive, please answer dont know what to do

(Xena Burg) #1

Well what can I say after suffering from anorexia still am my body has completely changed how much food I can tolerate, the thing is I must gain 10 kilo, but every result I try I end up having a huge bloat face and leg foot retention. I know it is the carb vcz if I eat too much carbs I gain loads of weight then I end up having low carb meals for a week or do thrn I loose ut so my question is how can I safely gain on keto because quite frankly with keto I try for a few days I just end up loosibg more weight, is it the right lifestyle for me

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #2

Anorexia wrecked your metabolism. It will probably take longer to fix than it took to wreck. So don’t expect fixing it will be easy or quick. You say you gain weight quickly by eating carbs. My guess would be the gained ‘weight’ is mostly water and fat. That’s why it comes off as soon as you reduce carbs again. You have probably lost a lot of lean mass (ie muscle, connective tissue, bone density, etc.) Rebuilding that will take time. It will not return like the ‘weight’ you gain quickly from eating carbs for a week. You have to replace a lot of lost protein. You haven’t said how much you eat, how much carbs you eat to gain, how few carbs and how much fat and protein you eat when you eat ‘keto’. You don’t mention your age, how long you’ve been anorexic or how long you’ve been trying to recover. Without knowing that or what your BMR is and a lot more about your overall health status, it’s not possible to advise specifically. Very likely you require more individualized help than can be provided by an online forum, even one like this full of folks who know a lot and want to help. Best wishes.

(Edith) #3

Agree with @amwassil. You really need to provide way more information. Answering Michael’s questions would be a good start. I would also want to know how long you have been attempting keto? Also, like Michael mentioned, there is a lot of collective knowledge on this forum, but we are not doctors. We can only provide some guidance and ideas.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #4

Welcome to the forums, Xena. I’m sorry you’re struggling. I have to reiterate that we are not medical professionals and can’t give medical advice. We can answer diet questions, in general and about a ketogenic way of eating.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #5

The psychiatrist, Dr. Georgia Ede, has successfully used a ketogenic diet as part of treating patients for anorexia. I don’t believe that eating keto by itself is a sufficient treatment, however.

Dr. Ede’s site is diagnosisdiet.com. You can find more information about her there, plus information on getting in touch with her.

#6

Same way as every diet, with a caloric surplus for your energy needs. I agree with @amwassil though, VERY likely your metabolism is near destroyed after being an anorexic, so you need to simultaneously rebuild that as well as up your weight. You’re going to have to be picky with food choices in the mean time, I also wouldn’t crank up your salt intake to the popular levels because with both face and legs blowing up like that you’re retaining excess water for sure.

I’d hit a couple things at once, Dandelion root, 1500mg each meal. It’s a natural diuretic that’ll help you dump extra water but won’t deplete you the way pharmaceutical diuretics will, it’s pretty effective. Also make sure you’re getting enough potassium, at least enough to match your salt intake, that will help your sodium balance which goes towards not retaining it.

Digestive aids, they’ll help you break down foods for better absorbsion, NOW super enzymes is a cheap and pretty good one.

Betaine HCL, it’s literally stomach acid, take with each meal to help further break down foods, works differently than the enzymes.

On your bodyweight, keep in mind that if you’re constantly holding excess water and then dumping it the scale is going to be all over the place, it doesn’t know the difference, so keep that in mind. It doesn’t know fat from muscle from water that shouldn’t be there to begin with.

Are you eating a standard keto diet or are you doing a little more carbs to help with weight gain?

(Marianne) #7

God bless. My heart goes out to you. The first step to change most always starts with awareness. Sounds like you are there.

A few thoughts jumped out when I read your post. Are you willing and ready to surrender and gain weight, or do you just know that you “need” to for health reasons or what loved ones may be imploring you to do? Are you ready to go up one or two sizes of clothing and have more mass to your body, when your disease may already be telling you every day that you are “fat”?

No one here has to tell you how psychologically powerful anorexia is, and the hellacious internal battle it triggers when you start to gain weight. My other thought was that keto is not a “calories in/calories out” way of eating. In fact, it is quite calorie dense, although the carbs are low. I would say you should meet or exceed your fat and protein macros per day, without tracking calories. There is no need for you to know those values, although you may have a pretty good intrinsic sense of the calorie content of a lot of foods. In addition and as you know, exercise can be just another way of purging. Continue certain things if you love them, but resist the urge to exercise if the main (or sole) purpose is to achieve an overly slim physique.

Lastly, I’m not sure I would attempt any of this without professional help. I would guess that maybe you have had that up the ying yang already, however, find someone you trust and whose strength you can draw from until you can stand on your own. You are dealing with powerful forces and need support until you can get stabilized.

Your new beginning is underway, regardless of how much you may falter or how long it may take. :hugs:

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #8

I don’t know whether this helps with anorexia or not, but there is a definite difference between gaining lean mass (muscle and bone density), on the one hand, and gaining fat, on the other. The blessing of a ketogenic diet is that the weight gained tends to be the former type, rather than the latter—unless one is dangerously short on fat, in which case, one will gain fat, as well. But that is a special case. Men are fine with around 10-12% body fat, whereas women of childbearing age need more like 21-23%, as a cushion for gestation and lactating.

#9

It’s best to do light workouts to stimulate muscle tissue hyperthrophy and then eat. Hold onto a counter and try bodyweight squats. 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions spaced every 2 minutes. Using resistance bands is an easy option for upper body training.